Hour-long chase of alleged armed robber winds through metro-east before ending on I-255
An hour-long pursuit of a Nissan Altima stolen in an armed robbery in Missouri ended on Interstate 255 near Dupo Friday morning with the arrest of a Jerseyville man and a Godfrey woman, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said.
The names of the suspects were not released because charges are pending in connection with the pursuit that went through multiple metro-east communities.
The man driving the Nissan is 29 and he has active felony warrants that include theft and robbery charges, according to a news release from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.
The passenger is 25. Both suspects were being held in the Monroe County Jail on Friday.
A Channel 2-KTVI video of their arrest shows officers drew their weapons as they surrounded the suspects on the highway.
Sgt. Justin Biggs of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department gave this rundown of what happened:
A Monroe County sheriff’s deputy saw the Nissan at about 5:48 a.m. traveling south on Illinois 3 near Ames Road in Waterloo. The vehicle was reported stolen a short time earlier in a strong-armed robbery in Normandy, Missouri.
The deputy was told the driver was armed with a handgun.
When other deputies arrived, they attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver fled into Randolph County, where it went east on Illinois 154 through Red Bud.
The pursuit then circled back to Illinois 3 northbound into Monroe County.
Deputies deployed spike strips on Illinois 3 near J Road and the vehicle struck the spike strips, causing a tire to deflate and slow down the Altima. Additional spikes were deployed south of Waterloo and again on Illinois 3 near Illinois 158 in Columbia.
At 6:48 a.m., the Nissan came to a stop on northbound Interstate 255 near the 11-mile marker, where the driver and passenger were arrested as multiple police cars pulled up behind the stolen vehicle.
Two pellet guns that replicate a real firearm and “a large amount of narcotics” were seized from the vehicle.
Columbia police officers along with investigators with the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force assisted in attempting to stop the vehicle.
